Michael T. Mooney - Page 2

Ask a theater lover what kind of music they like, and they will invariable say Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd Webber. Ask what they do for fun, and the answer will usually involve tickets to a play. Anyone who recognizes themselves as 'born in a trunk' will want to add Cindy Brown's new mystery novel, MACDEATH, to their reading list. As the title suggests, the light-hearted mystery thriller takes on the venerable Scottish play and the superstitions surrounding the time-worn tragedy. The book is billed as an 'Ivy Meadows Mystery' - the first of a series. Ivy is something akin to a modern day Nancy Drew - an eager young actress turned sleuth in modern-day Phoenix, Arizona.

You may wonder why the Ocean Professional Theatre Company's holiday offering EBENEZER is being presented in an Atlantic City casino showroom. This charming 350-seat theatre is one of the oldest performance spaces in Atlantic City, dating back to 1912. The Screening Room is a jewel box setting in which to present one of the holiday's most enduring classics. This sort of family-driven entertainment is exactly what Atlantic City sorely needs at the moment.

THE WIZARD OF OZ, a holiday classic in the making, is now delighting audiences at Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven.

This December the national tour of SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL is coming to the Garden State with stops in New Brunswick and Morristown. First up, the show will play the historic State Theatre in New Brunswick for three performances on December 12th and 13th. The SISTERs then swing back through New Jersey to perform at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown on January 31st and February 1st.

American Theater Group is now presenting 'Size Matters' at the Hamilton Stage of Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway through November 23rd. This one man show stars Raymond McAnally who also stars in the production. Metropolitan area audiences should not miss the opportunity to see this thoughtful, humorous and important play.

Long after the curtain rings down on the Algonquin's near-perfect production two names will stick in your mind: Irving Berlin (natur'lly) and Carter Calvert, the Broadway star who brings Annie Oakley vividly to life on the Manasquan stage.

It seems right that Surflight Theatre closes it's 2014 season with A CHORUS LINE. After 65 years as a New Jersey theatrical institution, Surflight must have hosted hundreds of such auditions, giving that first 'big break' to scores of performers.

This year the Philadelphia FringeArts Festival will get INTIMATE. Alan Ayckbourn's INTIMATE EXCHANGES, that is. 1812 Productions returns to the Festival with a daring new production of Ayckbourn's 1982 experiment in tree drama.

Monty Python has stormed the beach - Beach Haven, that is - with an exceptional new production of SPAMALOT at Surflight Theatre, New Jersey's 65 year-old summer stock institution.

Very rarely a Broadway musical transcends mere entertainment and becomes part of the cultural landscape. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is such a musical. Although the word 'iconic' has been overused of late, I daresay FIDDLER has reached that status. Its themes of family, love, community and yes - tradition - have made it a transformative experience for five decades of theatergoers.

Last summer Beach Haven's Surflight Theatre came back from superstorm Sandy with a superb production of 'Les Miserables' starring Broadway's Bart Shatto as Jean Valjean. This summer, Broadway's got 'Les Mis,' but luckily the beach still has Bart. Shatto currently stars as not one, but two 19th century protagonists, 'Jekyll & Hyde,' in Frank Wildhorn's 1997 musical sensation. It's almost as if he were playing Valjean and Javert. If such a thing were possible, Shatto would be the man to do it.

Last month, Britain's most prolific playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn celebrated his 75th birthday. With 78 major plays to his credit, the busy play maker seems more popular than ever - even on this side of the Atlantic. In fact, over the next few months, fans can see a wealth of Ayckbourn productions - all located in and around the New York area. Let's take a look at what the master playwright has in store for metro area theater-goers this summer!

I'm sure author Ruby Preston is tired of her books being compared to NBC's "Smash". But with two and a half million viewers, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Both the hit TV series and Preston's novels have a bright and breezy tone matched with biting wit, all set inside the enigmatic world of the Broadway musical. Preston's novels are primarily dialogue driven, so it is not difficult to imagine them on the small screen. She even replaces 'chapters' with 'scenes'. With her newest show biz tome "Staged", Preston extends the shelf life of her heroine, producer Scarlett Savoy, the focus of her first novel, "Show Biz". In "Staged" persistent producer Scarlett is trying by hook or crook to get her first big musical to the Great White Way. In the process she is offered a somewhat indecent proposal by a smarmy theater owner that compromises her integrity but just might help get her show the prime real estate she feels it deserves. Along the way we are introduced to Scarlett's colorful array of theatrical friends who, thanks to Preston's vivid and affectionate portrayals, often threaten to upstage our intrepid producer herself. There's even a delicious eleven o'clock twist worthy of any Broadway farce. If it weren't set so squarely in the present, we might even be reading a juicy pulp novel of Broadway in the 1940's. Ruby Preston is the nom de plume of a real-life Broadway producer, so her insider's eye is spot on, while her affection for this business we call show is always apparent. Of course, all ends well for Miss Scarlett, as Preston has plans for yet a third installment in her "Broadway" trilogy. Until then, "Staged" makes perfect bed or beach reading for actors and audiences alike!

It's been said that an artist's primary goal is to create something unique and specific that is at the same time universally identifiable. As a performer, Anthony Rapp has been doing just that since the age of 9, most notably as Mark Cohen in the hit musical "Rent". Now, Rapp has added author to his list of artistic credits and the results are simultaneously unique and universal.

Fans of playwright Alan Bennett were no doubt excited to hear his new play PEOPLE a late entry to this year's National Theatre's schedule and due to be broadcast worldwide on NT Live. But in the meantime, whet your appetite for Bennett's insightful eye for character by reading SMUT. As the title suggests the two characters that Bennett examines in his twin stories are drawn to the subversive side of sex. Secrets are also of primary concern here. In fact, if it weren't so much fun to tell friends you are reading SMUT, I'd suggest Bennett re-title the volume SECRETS. Rest assured, however, this is no FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY sort of smut but the English sort that lies quietly beneath the surface causing more concern than pleasure.

BWW Books review of THE CRAFTY ART OF PLAYMAKING by Alan Ayckbourn

When I was a couch potato kid in the 70's I couldn't imagine anything more fun than being part of Lucy Ricardo's crazy schemes. During 'I Love Lucy's twice a day airings, I dreamed of stomping grapes in Italy, stuffing chocolates down my shirt, selling Vitameatavegamin, or disguising myself in crazy costumes to break into show business. I wanted to be friends with Lucy. Little did I know that on the other side of the country, Michael Stern was doing just that.